I found May Kendall to be quite refreshing and similar to Naden. The stanzas are of simple form and deal with a different type of fascination or love altogether--science! Much like Naden, Kendall is enthralled by the categorization of animals and suspect of evolution. From her poem, "The Lower Life"
It might seem matter for regret
That Evolution has not yet
Fulfilled our wishes.
The birds soar higher far than we,
The fish outswim us in the sea,
The simple fishes.
But, evolutionists reflect,
We have the pull in intellect,
And that‘s undoubted:
Yet still we cry: Can this atone
For fins or pinions of our own,
Not to be scouted?‘
We hold that Evolution‘s plan,
To give as little as she can,
Is something trying.
Fair share of brains, indeed, we win;
But why not throw the swimming in,
Why not the flying?
But ah, she gives not more or less,
We pay for all that we possess,
We weep and waver,
While Evolution, still the same,
With knights or pawns pursues the game,
And shows no favour....
Kendall is discussing evolution as not just scientific, but something that will also happen to her and mankind (maybe womankind?). The first stanza itself is very self-proclaiming "we aren't great yet!" - but who is the we she speaks of? Is she discussing men or women?
............not done yet...........
*Other post-colonial musings**What was the role of women in the patriarchal society of de Stael and Austen? This was something I believe they were both questioning. Stael was born in France, and felt strongly against the controlling patriarchy, professing her distaste for Napoleon and sought refuge in Italy and Switzerland later in life. Austen was around the same age as de Stael, but there is a major difference in the way the two approach the question.
Madame de Stael had money. She grew up aristocratic and was highly educated. Her father was the financial minister to the current King of France until the French Revolution.
Jane Austen was not rich by any means. She was not educated for the most part, sent home from boarding school twice due to illness and then insufficient funding by the parents. She self-educated herself by reading books in her both her uncle’s and father’s libraries.
This is very important to consider the direction Corinne and Fanny go. Corinne is independently wealthy in the start of the novel, living in Italy, while Fanny has just arrived at her uncle’s home, uneducated and considered “stupid.” While both of these female characters challenge issues surrounding the marriage plot, the role of the woman, hierarchy of family and the wealthy, etc, their major personal gap is one of economics.
If we view the way they present the wealthy, it is obvious Jane Austen satirizes what wealth means from the first page. Every time a character is introduced, they aren’t called pretty or intelligent, but rather, how much they were worth in pounds. The women in Mansfield Park value marriage and the maintenance or increase in their status, something Sir Thomas and their aunt Norris reiterate. In Corinne, it is more patriarchal and political, Oswald and Corinne falling in love before separated by Oswald’s father’s posthumous wishes, as well as closely tied to Oswald's view of Italy vs England.
I find the economical status of these two women to be the most important piece to consider if we begin to place Corinne and Fanny side-by-side for comparison, or at least a conversation :).
*Corinne, or Italy -- published 1807 (we know Austen read Corinne by 1808 because she wrote recommending it to a deaf old man in a letter, Dec. 1808)
*Mansfield Park -- published 1814 (during that time Austen actually rejected an invitation to meet de Stael)
I like to suggest that since both Corinne and Mary were said to have "lively minds" it may be important to see what Austen has done to Corinne in her shaping of the female character. In a way, Austen is like Victor, taking parts of Corinne and delegating them to both Mary and Fanny in her creation of Mansfield Park.
It might seem matter for regret
That Evolution has not yet
Fulfilled our wishes.
The birds soar higher far than we,
The fish outswim us in the sea,
The simple fishes.
But, evolutionists reflect,
We have the pull in intellect,
And that‘s undoubted:
Yet still we cry: Can this atone
For fins or pinions of our own,
Not to be scouted?‘
We hold that Evolution‘s plan,
To give as little as she can,
Is something trying.
Fair share of brains, indeed, we win;
But why not throw the swimming in,
Why not the flying?
But ah, she gives not more or less,
We pay for all that we possess,
We weep and waver,
While Evolution, still the same,
With knights or pawns pursues the game,
And shows no favour....
Kendall is discussing evolution as not just scientific, but something that will also happen to her and mankind (maybe womankind?). The first stanza itself is very self-proclaiming "we aren't great yet!" - but who is the we she speaks of? Is she discussing men or women?
............not done yet...........
*Other post-colonial musings**What was the role of women in the patriarchal society of de Stael and Austen? This was something I believe they were both questioning. Stael was born in France, and felt strongly against the controlling patriarchy, professing her distaste for Napoleon and sought refuge in Italy and Switzerland later in life. Austen was around the same age as de Stael, but there is a major difference in the way the two approach the question.
Madame de Stael had money. She grew up aristocratic and was highly educated. Her father was the financial minister to the current King of France until the French Revolution.
Jane Austen was not rich by any means. She was not educated for the most part, sent home from boarding school twice due to illness and then insufficient funding by the parents. She self-educated herself by reading books in her both her uncle’s and father’s libraries.
This is very important to consider the direction Corinne and Fanny go. Corinne is independently wealthy in the start of the novel, living in Italy, while Fanny has just arrived at her uncle’s home, uneducated and considered “stupid.” While both of these female characters challenge issues surrounding the marriage plot, the role of the woman, hierarchy of family and the wealthy, etc, their major personal gap is one of economics.
If we view the way they present the wealthy, it is obvious Jane Austen satirizes what wealth means from the first page. Every time a character is introduced, they aren’t called pretty or intelligent, but rather, how much they were worth in pounds. The women in Mansfield Park value marriage and the maintenance or increase in their status, something Sir Thomas and their aunt Norris reiterate. In Corinne, it is more patriarchal and political, Oswald and Corinne falling in love before separated by Oswald’s father’s posthumous wishes, as well as closely tied to Oswald's view of Italy vs England.
I find the economical status of these two women to be the most important piece to consider if we begin to place Corinne and Fanny side-by-side for comparison, or at least a conversation :).
*Corinne, or Italy -- published 1807 (we know Austen read Corinne by 1808 because she wrote recommending it to a deaf old man in a letter, Dec. 1808)
*Mansfield Park -- published 1814 (during that time Austen actually rejected an invitation to meet de Stael)
I like to suggest that since both Corinne and Mary were said to have "lively minds" it may be important to see what Austen has done to Corinne in her shaping of the female character. In a way, Austen is like Victor, taking parts of Corinne and delegating them to both Mary and Fanny in her creation of Mansfield Park.